Gothic Art In The Gilded Age

The Fascinating History of the First Significant Collection of Gothic Art in the United States.

The late nineteenth century, known commonly as the "Gilded Age," produced some of the most beautiful yet controversial architecture in America's history. The great influencers of the period, including Richard Upjohn, Henry Hobson Richardson, and Charles McKim, each spread the gospel of his own architectural style. The result was an eclectic mix of styles that some detested but that others embraced. Caught in the struggle to find an architecture America could claim as its own, Hartford, Connecticut architect William Brocklesby carved out his own stylistic path. In an age when the taste for ostentation and pretension was adopted by many, William Brocklesby produced some of the most dignified and beautiful architecture in the Connecticut Valley. His churches, libraries, and theaters remain as artistic landmarks throughout western New England, and his work at colleges from Hartford to Amherst, Massachusetts make for some of the most picturesque college campuses in America. This book serves as a companion to the author's earlier book, Asher Benjamin, American Architect, Author, Artist. Taken together, the two books provide a view of developments in American architecture from 1790 to 1910. The Architecture of William C. Brocklesby Hailing from Hartford, Connecticut, architect William C. Brocklesby (1847-1910) spent his career designing beautiful yet dignified churches, libraries, and public buildings throughout the Connecticut River Valley and western New England. Working in an age when ostentation was the rule rather than the exception, Brocklesby maintained a restrained hand in the application of ornament. His design ofForbes Library in Northampton, Massachusetts stands out as a monument to his ability as a design architect. In addition, William Brocklesby was among a handful of nineteenth century architects who made the Connecticut River Valley the birthplace of the prototypical American college campus. Working largely within the vision of the famed American landscape architects Andrew Jackson Downing and Frederick Law Olmstead, Brocklesby and others built campuses that were meant to mimic the traditional New England village. “Through the designs of the college buildings by Peabody and Stearns and William Brocklesby, Smith College's architectural history traces the development of late nineteenth-century styles.” - National Register of Historic Places Inventory

How wealthy American women--as consumers and as influencers--helped shape French couture of the late nineteenth century; lavishly illustrated. French fashion of the late nineteenth century is known for its allure, its ineffable chic--think of John Singer Sargent's Madame X and her scandalously slipping strap. For Parisian couturiers and their American customers, it was also serious business. In Dressing Up, Elizabeth Block examines the couturiers' influential clientele--wealthy American women who bolstered the French fashion industry with a steady stream of orders from the United States. Countering the usual narrative of the designer as solo creative genius, Block shows that these women--as high-volume customers and as pre-Internet influencers--were active participants in the era's transnational fashion system. Block describes the arrival of nouveau riche Americans on the French fashion scene, joining European royalty, French socialites, and famous actresses on the client rosters of the best fashion houses--Charles Frederick Worth, Doucet, and Félix, among others. She considers the mutual dependence of couture and coiffure; the participation of couturiers in international expositions (with mixed financial results); the distinctive shopping practices of American women, which ranged from extensive transatlantic travel to quick trips downtown to the department store; the performance of conspicuous consumption at balls and soirées; the impact of American tariffs on the French fashion industry; and the emergence of smuggling, theft, and illicit copying of French fashions in the American market as the middle class emulated the preferences of the rich. Lavishly illustrated, with vibrant images of dresses, portraits, and fashion plates, Dressing Up reveals the power of American women in French couture. Winner of the Aileen Ribeiro Grant of the Association of Dress Historians; an Association for Art History grant; and a Pasold Research Fund grant.

This volume catalogues more than 400 decorative objects in the Robert Lehman Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, including painted enamels, snuffboxes, porcelain, pottery, ceramics, jewellery, furniture, cast metal, and textiles from throughout Europe and Asia, with the majority dating from the late seventh century to the 20th century.

This second volume of Studies in Art, Science, and Technology unites studies by scientists, curators, and conservators, all of which are published here for the first time. Essays and technical notes address a variety of themes, such as connections between technology and aesthetics, aging processes of artworks, attribution and dating issues, and conservation theory. Specific examples from throughout art history add context and help promote deeper understanding. A wide range of objects are discussed in the texts, including medieval sculptures, Baroque musical instruments, Egyptian stone works, photographs, enamels, and paintings. The refined analyses of these works will prove relevant and enlightening to an interdisciplinary professional audience.

Dealing Art on Both Sides of the Atlantic, 1860-1940 aims to bring the marketplace dynamic into sharper focus by examining the functionaries who participate in the art market–agents, scouts, intermediaries, restorers, fakers, decorators, advisers and experts.

This volume celebrates the storied career of Stephen N. Fliegel, the former Robert Bergman Curator of Medieval Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA). Authors of these essays, all leading curators in their fields, offer insights into curatorial practices by highlighting key objects in some of the most important medieval collections in North America and Europe: Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Louvre, the British Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, the Getty, the Groeningemuseum, The Morgan Library, Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum, and, of course, the CMA, offering perspectives on the histories of collecting and display, artistic identity, and patronage, with special foci on Burgundian art, acquisition histories, and objects in the CMA.

Sarah Burns examines the presentation of the gothic in 19th century American painting. Dismissing notions that gothic was the work only of misfits, she shows how it influenced romantic and realist painters, and at how gothic painters such as Quidor, Blythe and Rimmer participated in the development of American art.